Aasthik (आस्तिक) is a Sanskrit word which literally means Believer. I feel that to achieve anything in life, you need to believe. Whom you choose to believe - God, yourself, your abilities, ideals, principles, fate, luck or destiny is your choice. This blog includes posts on all sorts of things- technology, programming, day to day experiences, GOD, religion, spirituality, science, philosophy & theology.

Thursday, July 30, 2015

The Art of Giving (Part 1) - What can you give a company which no one else can?

Most students (specially undergrads) who are preparing for their On/Off/Pooled Campus Recruitment events focus all their attention in Getting their dream job. They don't see any problem with that, but I do.

The problem is - the energy is totally focused on getting what "they" [the students themselves] want. I think that MBA Students or MBA grads will agree with me when I say this - "this approach lacks customer focus".

Let me explain - See the company while interviewing is like your customer. You need to sell them YOUR product, which is you. They company will be investing and they need to be sure that they are making a reliable investment. The trouble begins when you're so much focused on getting what you want, that you forget about what your customer [the recruiting organization] wants/needs.

They need a person who is high on integrity, technical skills, communication skills, leadership skills and analytical skills among a bunch of others. And they have a large pool to chose from. So basically you need to think about WHAT THE RECRUITING ORGANIZATION WANTS!

If you prepare with this mentality, you will genuinely research about the organization, its culture and whether the profile they've offered is inline with your career goals or not. Once you're sure, you need to focus on advertising your capabilities to the best way possible.

How do you do that? See, you need to understand that most people have the basic skills that the company needs, or at the very least, most companies do find a lot of candidates with the same amount of skills. So the question arises, how do they chose?

The answer is pretty simple, they are looking for someone who is different. The definition of "different" most likely will differ from one panelist to another and from one organization to another. However, it does not change the fact that they don't want the Best Candidate, they want the candidate who is a BEST FIT. Someone whom they think, will be able to fit into the role THEY have in mind.

Most times, you can not make the organization or its representatives change their mind about what they want [for which they have come to recruit]. It may happen rarely. That is why one should always focus on what the organization is looking for. You need to prove to the organization that not only you will fit in the role, but you will also provide some additional benefits. If you can convince the interview panel of the same, you will definitely get the job.

Hence its not about the "Art of Getting" but "Art of Giving". I repeat, instead of focusing on what you want, focus on what the company needs.